One Little Step is All it Takes

I was really really scared after the bad men came and broke up my family. The place they sent me was horrible, and I almost starved to death.  I was so afraid.  I'd never been that afraid in my whole life. Even of the mountain lions or the wolf packs when they attacked my herd family in the winters.

In my fear, I lashed out at anyone and everyone who came near me. I wanted to hurt them the way they'd hurt me. And so I used my anger to attack, never letting them see that underneath it all, I was afraid.

I think now that some of the people I was mad at were only trying to help me.  But I couldn't see that because of the fear - and my anger because people like them ruined my life, broke up my family and cast me out to die.

But then, I met some different people. They were nice to me always, no matter how mad I got at them.  They fed me carrots and were respectful - didn't try to run up and grab me like everyone else.  They were kind.

Slowly, I realized that maybe they were different from those horrible two-leggeds who hurt me.  Maybe I could trust them?

But I was so afraid to trust any two-legged.  They were predators, after all. But these predators just kept loving me, feeding me, telling me I was wonderful.  My mom today was one of these predators.  She'd come and sit with me, never pushing to touch me, letting me come over to sniff and nuzzle her. She fed me carrots and cookies and these red round things I'd never seen before.  YUM.

Even after I kicked her hard one day (she scared me when she moved fast) she came back and loved me more.

That's when I realized it was time for me to give these new two-leggeds a chance.  It was time for me to step up and be brave, time for me to have courage - the courage to trust these people. 

So I started trusting them.  Not all the time. I couldn't be that brave. But I started to trust them some of the time. Gradually, I trusted them more and more. Some of the things were pretty scary - like when they wanted to touch my ears.  The humans who attacked my family used this ugly thing on my ears to control me - and it hurt really bad.  So it took me a while to let them touch my ears.  But I did.

And you know what?  I learned something big.  We all have courage inside - and the more we tap into our courage - the more courageous we become!

So no matter how afraid you are, if you take one tiny step into your courage - that's all it takes to begin.  from there - you courage can grow and grow.  Until it makes your fear, and those bad scary memories, get smaller and smaller - and fade into the sunset.

How cool is that?  We can begin to ditch our fears with just one tiny step - into courage. We don;t have to be brave all the time, don't have to overcome all that big fear at once. 

We simply have to take that first, tiny step into courage. 

Who Says Big is Better?

No one ever taught me that being little made me less than another pony.  All of my herd family were small – and a lot of the predators we faced were really BIG.  So I learned early that my size had little to do with what I can do in this world.

Some people think it's funny that I play so much with horses that are bigger than me.  Heck, my best friends are almost twice my size.  So what? Big isn't better - it's just Big!

Just because I’m little doesn’t mean I don’t have my own power.   Even in the face of something bigger than me, I still have myself and my own gifts. And that's the best thing to have - of all.

I can be persistent - I can try and try and try until I succeed.  After all, success isn’t about how big you are, it’s about how well you apply yourself to the task at hand.  Even a little mustang can make a scary giant think twice when he keeps trying!

Speaking of scary giants – those giants can be big kids around us – or they can be big fears that control us.  It doesn’t matter what the giant is. I’ve learned that you just have to have the courage to stand up to that  big scary thing.  Once you take the first step from fear into courage – it’s never as scary, or big, as it seemed.

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by all of the big changes in my life. And that makes me feel really small.  But I'm not small - I'm me.  And even though there are changes all around, changes that feel pretty big to me, those changes don't make me any less of a horse - just like your life changes don't make you any less of a kid.   We're all big in our hearts and spirits - and that is what matters.

So forget all this stuff about being Big.  Justg becuase someone is bigger than you - it doesn't mean they are any better.  Not even.